Of Protection
by Wintercitylights
Summary: Sarada didn't need imaginary friends; she already had her own secret protector. Fluff and feels. Uchiha family fic
1. Epilogue

_"Saradaaaaa." Sakura cooed as she waved her daughters favourite toy from the oth_ _er side of the room– a stuffed dinosaur given to her by her father. Sarada gave a squeal of laughter as she pushed herself unsteadily up with her chubby hands and took a few struggling moments to keep herself upright. She eyed the dinosaur and with concentrated determination, put one foot in front of her, then another, then waddled quickly and clumsily towards her mother with her hands outstretched._

 _Sakura laughed with delight as Sarada managed to cross the room and fall onto the stuffed toy, successfully squashing it under her weight._

 _"Aren't you a darling." Sakura said softly and reached out to hug the baby and nuzzled her face, breathing in the familiar baby scent._

 _"I'll be back in a few days." A voice sounded from behind her and Sakura turned around to see her husband standing at the door, watching them with calm eyes._

 _"But you just got back yesterday!" Sakura exclaimed in protest, standing up to place her hands on her hips._

 _Sasuke blinked at her. "It's a mission."_

 _Sakura's eyes twitched and she sighed in defeat. "Okay okay...I'll walk you out. Did you pack food?"_

 _Sasuke nodded._

 _Sakura's eyes twitched again. Had her husband always been mute? She turned and reached out to pick up her daughter in her arms._

 _"Sarada, Papa's going out for a mission again." She made sure to cast her husband a look as she stressed the word, "Say itte irashai."_

 _Sarada blinked and cocked her head to the side as her mother brought her in front of the man. This was supposedly her father, she recognised, Sarada had seen him a few times, but he always disappeared for ages and ages._

 _"It-sai?" Sarada managed_

 _Sakura suppressed a giggle as Sasuke stared back at the miniature version of himself. His whole body twitched, as if he was conflicted in whether he should squeal from cuteness or drop onto the floor in exasperation. After a few moments of silence, he ended up sighing and lifting his hand slowly, reaching towards the baby's forehead and poking it softly with his two outstretched fingers._

 _"Itte kimasu, Sarada." He said softly, his face breaking into a soft smile._

 _Trying to avoid the look of utter adoration on his wife's beaming face, he turned to walk briskly towards the door._

 _"Oh geez, wait up Sasuke!"_

 _Sakura put Sarada gently back down onto the floor. "You wait here ok Sarada-chan? Mama's just seeing Papa out the door; god knows when he'll be back this time." And with a smile, she patted Sarada on the head and left, closing the bedroom door behind her._

 _Except in her haste she had forgotten to close it entirely shut, leaving a curious Sarada to stare at the beam of sunlight peeking in through the cracks, casting a long shadow across the floor._

 _Sarada gazed at the source of the shadow, mesmerised by the simple beauty and warmth of the sunlight. She carefully picked up her stuffed dinosaur and stuffed its tail in her mouth. Then slowly, she reached towards the shoji and pulled it sideways. It slid open easily._

 _Feeling rather triumphant at her little deed, Sarada hugged the dinosaur to her chest and waddled out onto the corridor. She took in the view of the garden right outside the room; the swaying green leaves on the many Maple trees and the roses gathered at their roots. There was a trickling sound and she followed its source to gaze upon the large pond scattered with lily pads and the miniature water wheel turning lazily against the water. Sarada's eyes were wide with fascination._

 _She could faintly hear her mother's voice from the end of the corridor before it faded away completely. She remembered her mother's stern face lecturing about how she should never wander around by herself, but this was home, and the ripples forming on the water were practically calling for her._

 _Clutching her toy excitedly, she stumbled a bit as her chubby legs took her across the wooden floorboards, down the step, onto the soft grass and finally to the edge of the pond. She gawked in wonder at the water surface and gasped as she saw the fascinating creatures inside – long, colourful, light reflecting things moving slowly in the water, bubbles emitting from – was that their mouths?_

 _Sarada frowned at the strange creatures and wondered what they were. She reached out her short hands to touch them –_

 _And the next thing she knew her feet was off the ground and she tumbled head first into the pond. Sarada had never felt this sensation before – the feeling of her heart lurching towards her chest as she fell, the impact of the water against her face forcing her to close her eyes and the coldness, the darkness, the inability to breathe as she opened her mouth to shriek but only to have water seep down her throat and into her lungs._

 _And then it ended as quickly as it began. The next thing she knew she was sitting on the green grass again, blinking her eyes furiously to get water out of them, spluttering and coughing, choking as she felt air, cool, fresh air entering her lungs again as she sat drenched and shivering with shock._

 _"Sarada!"_

 _Sakura cried out in horror as she came running, her heart pounding in her ears as she saw her daughter dripping wet next to the pond. But before she could reach her Sasuke was already there, knelt down next to the toddler with small wisps of dust clouds at his feet formed from his speed and his long hair falling slowly back down against his shoulders. His face was unreadable as he brushed the girl's wet locks away from her eyes and checked to see if she was injured._

 _That was the first time Sarada fully concentrated on her father's face as she felt him touch her cheek, at how his eyes, for a split second a crimson red, faded slowly back to their deep, dark onyx. It was also the first time she felt her father pull her towards him in a tight embrace, his large hand at the back of her head and pressing her against his broad, warm chest. As she felt the quick thumping of his heart and the slight trembling of his body, Sarada turned her head a little and saw, sitting against the maple tree, a figure that had the same dark orbs as her father's smiling softly at her, his long hair swaying in the wind._


	2. Of Imaginary Friends

_Authors note: Hi Everyone! This is pretty much my take on Sarada growing up with protective Uncle Itachi (because who can get enough of that guy?), albeit not alive...*cries forever*_

 _This was originally a spur of the moment one shot, the epilogue being a flashback, but I decided to make it a story with chapters in case I suddenly had more spur-of-the-moment ideas xD anyhow, hope this is a good read! I haven't written properly since forever..._

* * *

Many children around her, Sarada realized, had imaginary friends. Figments of their imagination conjured by their endless energy and emotions – most due to loneliness, which was not uncommon for a growing shinobi child when their mission oriented shinobi parents would almost always be away.

Although she wouldn't deny that she was, in fact, quite lonely, what with her mother being a busy senior medic nin and her father never home, Sarada knew for a fact that _her_ friend, however, was undoubtedly real, because Sarada could _see_ him. She could describe him to the utmost detail – the fairness of his skin just as white as her own, his raven black hair in a loose ponytail at his neck and his jet black orbs that were always warm and twinkling. Every time Sarada saw him, he would be wearing a black shirt with a high flared out collar just up to his chin, his black shorts just past his knees and he would always be barefoot. She could hear him – the soft padding of his footsteps as he walked down the corridor outside her room and when he talked, how his voice seemed to sound from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Most importantly, she could always feel him – feel his comforting, protecting presence as if he was the guardian of her home, and whenever he was there, she would feel just a bit less lonely even when her parents were away.

He had been there for as long as Sarada could remember – leaning against the tall maple tree in the garden, lazing on the porch underneath the wind chimes or resting on top of the roofs at night, eyes turned up to gaze at the stars.

And she remembered almost all the times that he had saved her from her fears at night when she would wake up terrified from a nightmare. Even at a young age she knew that her parents were busy people – her mother would always come home with tired, droopy eyes and her whole body slouching, and she hardly even saw her father. Not wishing to disturb her mother's precious resting time, she would force herself to stay quiet in her room, throwing her blanket over her head as she trembled, her eyes squeezed tight and her hands over her ears, trying to block out the shadows and monsters in the dark. Sarada remembered the first time she thought she couldn't handle it any further and had been just about to scream out at a particular horrifying image of a monster in her mind, when she had felt his presence. A calm, soothing warmth that seemed to seep in from nowhere, enveloping her in a protective bubble of light and she knew that the monsters that hid in the shadows under her bed, inside the wardrobe and at the corners of the room had all been vanquished, unable to step foot inside the barrier that had formed around her. She had felt herself relax then, her head sinking back into her pillow and her clenched fists loosening, and someone had gently tugged the blankets back and tucked them around her shoulders. She had rubbed her closed eyes sleepily as she felt a warm hand patting her hair, and she had drifted into a curious dream of dangos and clouds.

It concerned her at first that her parents never seemed to be able to see or hear him. The rarer times when her father was home, he would sometimes walk right past her friend, not sparing him a glance even though he was literally standing right next to him. She never quite understood either the look on her friend's face whenever that happened, it was a mixture of sadness, guilt, pride and love all bundled into one. Sarada would then shake her head in bewilderment – it was impossible for someone to feel so many things at once, they'd explode. Normally, her friend would notice her reaction and, as if knowing what she was thinking, would chuckle softly – a deep warm sound rumbling from his chest, and smile at her with his gentle, crinkling eyes. The first time, Sarada tried to call out to her father and ask him why he was ignoring the man, but her friend had placed a finger to his lips and shook his head sadly. Sarada had clamped her mouth shut then, and after a while she began to realise that it didn't matter whether her parents saw him or not, as long as she did.

Because her silent companion was special to her, and just like how he would always protect her, she would do anything to keep him safe, even if it meant bearing his secret all to herself.


	3. Of Lies and Forgiveness

"But he said he would!" Sarada shouted accusingly at her mother, her angry eyes threatening to spill with tears and her hands clenched into fists at her side, "It's my birthday and he said he would be here!"

Sakura winced at her daughter's outburst. "I'm sorry Sarada, you know how important Papa's missions are– "

"More important than me?" Sarada shot back, her eyes filled with more hurt than anger.

"Of course not!" Sakura cried desperately and knelt down in front of her daughter, placing both hands on her shoulders, "Nothing is more important to Papa than you are Sarada, it's just...Papa has a lot of people to look after – "

"But he doesn't look after me." Sarada muttered to the ground.

Sakura bit her lip and sighed, "Sarada...Papa looks after you in his own way. The reason why he's always away on his missions is to make sure nothing bad happens to you, he's away because he's protecting the village and making sure nothing dangerous will happen to us."

Sarada stood silently, her bangs hiding her face. Sakura was about to suggest that they get ready for her party, when –

"I'd rather the village be in danger if that means he'll be here."

Sakura looked like she'd been slapped.

Her eyes bore into her daughter as a deafening silence hung in the room.

"You have no idea what you just said." Sakura whispered dangerously, her hands gripping into her daughter's shoulders.

"I'd rather something bad be happening to me if it means that he'll be here with me!" Sarada screamed at her mother's face, tears leaking from her dark eyes as she glared up at her, but before she could say anymore, there was a loud slap and her head was whipped to the side from the impact, her cheek throbbing with red hot pain.

Sakura was breathing heavily, her hand still in mid air and her whole body shaking with cold white fury. Her daughter stared at her, eyes wide with shock and hurt and Sakura felt herself breaking as she realized what she had done.

"Sarada – "

Sarada wrenched herself from her mother's grip, spun on her heels and fled from her calling mother. She jammed her feet into her sandals and dashed out the door of the lonely house. Her cheek was stinging as the cold wind whipped at her face as she ran but she didn't care, she ran blindly and as fast as she could with nowhere in mind. She had to get away.

By the time she came back to her senses she was panting heavily, slouching with her hands pressed to her knees and her heart pounding in her ears. Images of her mother's hurt, angry face flashed through her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her chest. She didn't mean to anger her mother like that, didn't mean to be selfish and spoiled and most definitely didn't mean to hurt her because deep down she knew, knew that it wasn't her parents fault that they were busy, knew that they had duties to protect the village but she felt so lonely, abandoned and unwanted. Was it really that hard to be together as a family? She endured the days when she had to be alone, but today was her birthday, couldn't they be there for her for once? Pay her a bit more attention? Wasn't she their daughter? Weren't they family? Didn't they want her? Didn't they care?

Sarada let her tears fall freely from all the emotions welling up inside her. She gingerly touched her still stinging face and let out a loud sob as she remembered her mother's pained face again.

"I'm sorry Mama..." She muffled into her palm as she wiped at her face and hiccupped. With her eyes still brimming with tears, she raised her head to look around at her surroundings. Blinking, she looked up, left and right and felt dread creeping into her body. She was surrounded by tall, dark and unfamiliar trees that reached up towards the sky, blocking out the afternoon sun. In her blinded haste she must have ran out of town and into the forests.

Sarada ordered herself to take deep breaths and calm down; she just needed to find the main road and follow it back up the way she came from. But as she turned around and around she couldn't find any path, only tall, untamed grass and giant, looming trees. Sarada's knees wobbled and she fell to the ground, her body shaking from desperation and fear as she finally accepted her situation – she was lost.

Fresh tears began spilling from her eyes again and she brought her knees up to her chest.

"Mama...Papa..." she whimpered as she buried her face into her knees.

There was a ruffling sound and her breath hitched into her throat. She lifted her head slowly, her eyes wide with fear and almost fainted at what she saw. A giant black snake no more than 50 metres in front of her, body as thick as tree trunks and as long as twenty carts. Its slanted yellow eyes glowed as it leered at her, its tongue flickering in and out and it almost looked like it was grinning.

Sarada was paralysed with terror at the nightmare in front of her, her mind was screaming at her to run but she couldn't even bring herself to stand. She was a caged mouse and she couldn't move, was going to die out here and never see her parents again.

And then she felt him. The familiar warm, protecting presence casting a shield around her and she knew instantly, as a wave of relief washed over her, that she was saved. The snake's eyes flickered to stare at somewhere behind her, then turned its giant head to slither away back into the trees.

Sarada slowly let out a breath she was holding, blood still pounding in her ears as she unclenched her fists. Then she turned slowly to find him standing right behind her, clad in all black, his red eyes still watching the trees before he blinked, as if satisfied, and peered down at her sternly with his now dark orbs.

Sarada looked uncertainly up at him as if afraid he would scold her. Sighing, he knelt down so that he was eye level with her. She looked down at her feet in shame, not wanting to meet his gaze.

 _ **Sarada**_

As usual his voice seemed to sound from everywhere and nowhere and she winced. Hesitantly she brought her face up to look at him, preparing herself for an angry lecturing when –

Poke.

She stared at him in astonishment and reached up to touch her forehead.

He chuckled.

 _ **You really are your father's daughter.**_

She blinked.

His eyes twinkled as he surveyed her some more.

 _ **Let's go home.**_

He held out his hand towards her and as she gazed up at his familiar face, she took it, feeling his large hands wrap around her small ones to pull her up.

XXX

"How did you know where to find me?" Sarada questioned as she ran steps to keep up with his long strides.

 _ **Hn.**_

Sarada frowned. "That's not an answer." she looked up to see him smiling his calm smile.

 _ **I know things.**_

Sarada's frown turned into a pout but kept quiet. Then -

 _ **Don't run away again.**_

She bit her lip and clutched onto his hand tighter.

"I didn't mean to...I was angry cause Papa lied."

He glanced down at her before sighing.

 _ **I lied a lot too.**_

She looked up at him, wide eyed. "You did? But why?"

He fell silent, leading her to turn towards the right and onto the main path that curved away from the trees. As they kept walking, she thought he wasn't going to answer her.

 _ **It's not good to lie. But if lying means you can protect the person you love better, then it has to be done.**_

Sarada pondered this for a moment.

"I don't get it."

Her friend chuckled.

 _ **You will understand when you are older. Just remember though, the person who lied may feel even worse than the person who was lied to.**_

Sarada was silent as she registered his sentence. "Howcome? It's their own fault."

She felt her friend flinch.

 _ **The person who lied unwillingly...and the person who was lied to...guilt...and anger...I wonder which would feel worse?**_

Sarada was even more confused but decided not to comment at the look of her friend's face which suddenly seemed a lot older than it was just moments before.

After a while she broke the silence.

"I think the person would have forgiven you, though." She stated matter-of-fact-ly.

He stopped walking abruptly and Sarada almost banged into him. He looked down at her in surprise.

She cocked her head to one side and met his eyes fully, "It's like what you said right? Just like Papa, I'm angry at him for lying, but I know he's actually protecting me, so even though I'm super mad at him, I will forgive him and always love him. So whoever you lied to, I'm sure they know that you are protecting them too."

He blinked down at her and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again slowly. Then Sarada saw his face slowly break into a smile that she had never seen before – wider, fuller, younger and happier than all the little soft smiles that he had always given her. He squeezed her hand gently.

 _ **...Thank you.**_

Sarada blinked and felt heat rise to her cheeks.

 _ **Don't go running off again.**_

And then he was gone. Sarada felt her hand clutching thin air and she gave a gasp of surprise.

"Sarada."

She jumped and turned, eyes widening at the familiar voice.

Her father stood in front of her, slightly panting – what? Her father never panted, he was always emotionless and composed –

"What do you think you're doing?"

Sarada winced at the softness of his voice. She would've been less ashamed if he had yelled at her.

She shuffled her feet and stared at the ground, her face heating up in embarrassment and guilt.

"I..."

Sasuke took two large strides forward and then she felt herself enveloped in a pair of strong arms that almost yanked her off her feet. She gave a yelp of surprise as he sighed.

"Why did you have to take after your mother's temper?"

Sarada blinked, still trying to register the warmth of her father's embrace.

"...Or maybe it's my temper. Whatever..." He sighed again, "Sorry Sarada...I didn't mean to be late."

And it was as if someone had lifted a spell off her. Suddenly all the emotions, all the stress and fear of what happened earlier came crashing down on her and her arms reached up shakily to clutch onto her father's coat.

"I'm sorry too." She muffled into his chest and her body began to tremble as the tears spilt out. Sasuke rubbed her back, "Its okay. Remember to apologise to your mother too."

Sarada nodded in between her hiccups, "I'm sorry Papa." And she hung on desperately to him as she began to bawl.

Sasuke tightened his grip on her and lifted her into his arms, keeping a firm hand on her back as she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Let's go home. Your mother is probably tearing up the village looking for you." Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed, "Literally."

Sarada managed a half laugh, half sob as Sasuke began walking towards home, and she felt a different type of protection, a different type of security; her friend's was warm and soothing, but this, being held in her father's arms, was real and solid.


	4. Of Fevers and Dreams

_Author's note: Just in case you guys are confused, the one shots aren't necessarily happening in chronological order. I don't exactly have a fixed plot for this fic yet, it's mainly just about Sarada growing up with Itachi around and with the theme of 'protection'._

 _And now with the chapter! Love me some Sasuke/Itachi brotherly moments :'D Reviews will be greatly appreciated!_

* * *

Sarada rocked on the balls of her feet outside her father's room, chewing the insides of her cheeks as she waited impatiently to know what the situation was. Finally after what seemed like hours, the shoji door shifted to the side and her mother stepped out.

"Mama! Is Papa ok?" Sarada cried immediately, startling her mother and stopping her in her tracks, almost knocking the tray from her hands.

Sakura steadied the tray of food and medicine in one hand, giving a sigh of relief, before gently patting her daughters head with the other, "Papa's okay, he got hurt a little from his mission – nothing serious!" she added quickly at the distraught look on her daughter's face, "I've cleaned it up and everything but he's still got a little fever. We just have to wait till it goes down." She smiled softly as her daughter breathed out a small sigh of relief. "He's sleeping, so make sure you keep quiet okay?"

Sarada nodded and stepped aside to let her mother pass. Hesitating, she peeked into the dark room and noticed her father's sleeping figure on the bed.

 _I'll just check to see if he's okay._

She nodded to herself determinedly and tip toed into the room, pulling the shoji door softly shut behind her to keep out the light. She could distinctly hear her father's heavy breathing as she silently made her way to the side of the bed. She peered at her father's sleeping face and noticed how different and young he looked without the usual furrow of his eyebrows and the purposed thinning of his lips.

Sarada sat herself down on the floor and gently crossed her arms on the side of the bed. It was immensely rare to just be with her father, without him rushing off to take on another mission or do reports for the Hokage, and Sarada smiled to herself happily. She placed her cheek on her crossed arms and simply sat there, listening to her father's breathing, and then slowly her eyelids drooped and her mind wandered off into dreamland.

She was halfway through a strange dream of cat chasing when she was awoken by sudden movements. She groggily opened her eyes, blinking away the dream when she realized that it was her father twitching. He was panting heavily in his sleep, beads of sweat forming on his forehead and his fists gripping the bed sheets. Sarada jumped up in panic.

"Papa?" she whispered frantically as he began thrashing about and mumbling something she couldn't comprehend. Sarada's mind raced. Should she wake him up? She needed to call for her mother, she needed –

Suddenly a pale hand reached out from behind her and brushed against her father's forehead. She jumped away with a start and found her friend standing next to her.

Sarada opened her mouth to say something but he pressed a finger to his lips. She clamped her mouth shut obediently and watched him as he sat down onto the bed, his hand still pressed on her father's forehead, his expression just like the ones she had seen before whenever he looked at her father – love, guilt and sorrow.

And gradually, Sasuke's breathing slowed, his thrashing subsided, his grip loosened on the bed sheets and his hands moved as if searching, trying to grab onto something...

Sarada watched as her friend hesitantly covered her father's hand with his, and then her father relaxed completely, a sigh escaping from his lips.

Moments passed and she stared wonderingly at the two men in front of her. She couldn't believe she had never noticed how similar they looked, and then for some reason, as she looked at her friend's back, she felt such an immense wave of loneliness that she wanted to cry.

"Ni..."

She jumped at the sound and hastily brushed the loose tears from her eyes. Sasuke squinted at her from the bed, now alone, his face searching.

"...Sarada?"

Sarada gulped as Sasuke pushed himself up wearily into a sitting position, one hand on his forehead.

"What are you doing in here?"

Sarada's face flushed and she fidgeted as Sasuke eyed her tiredly. "I...wanted to see if you're okay." She managed to mumble, eyes on the ground.

She felt her father's eyes bore into her ducked head and she rocked on the balls of her feet nervously.

"...I thought you were someone else." Sasuke finally said, and Sarada snapped her head up in surprise.

"You –"

 _ **Sarada.**_

His voice was low, warning.

She swallowed. "Who...who did you think I was?"

Sasuke gazed at her quietly as if studying her, his face its usual composed, monotone expression, but then he shook his head, brushing a hand through his hair. "...Not important."

Sarada let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Did you...did you have a bad dream Papa?"

Sasuke looked down at his hands as he flexed them.

"Kind of...but then it changed..." He trailed off. Then he looked up at her with a small smile, "Did you make it go away?"

Sarada wanted to tell him that it wasn't her, that it was him, how he had seemed to be able to fight away her father's nightmares with just a touch, how Sasuke had looked so peaceful and almost content in his sleep when her friend had been there.

But she forced the emotions down and just ducked her head again.

Sasuke watched as his daughter fidgeted.

"Can you ask Mama to bring me some water?"

Sarada's head snapped up and she nodded quickly, turning on her heels to rush out towards the kitchen.

"Sarada."

She froze in her tracks, then turned her head slowly to meet her father's gaze.

"Thank you," he smiled, "for worrying."

Sarada blinked at her father's smiling face. It had been a long time since she had seen a smile like that, with the softness reaching every depth of his eyes.

She felt the heat rushing up to her face as a warm feeling glowed in her stomach, then she gave a pleased "Un!" and rushed out of the room.

Sasuke gazed tiredly after her before slowly reaching up to touch his forehead gently with the tip of his fingers. He closed his eyes, trying to store the memories of his dream of warm summer afternoons, the gentle movements of walking, his hands wrapped around lean shoulders and his face against someone's back.


	5. Of Ice Blocks and Bunnies

_Author's note: Thank you for your reviews! :D It's super encouraging to know that people enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! I literally re-read Naruto from chapter 1 all the way till the end haha hence all the feels right now...especially when Itachi had to say goodbye TT Sasuke is an idiot. Anyway, just a short / much lighter chappie for now, please RR!_

* * *

"Howcome Papa and Mama can't see you?" Sarada asked as she licked her ice block, dangling her short legs off the porch. It was a beautiful summer's day and the sun was hanging high amongst the thin streaks of white clouds. She could hear the chirping of birds and their wings flapping amongst the maple leaves around the garden.

Her companion cocked his head to the side as if deep in thought, his ponytail swishing against his back.

 _ **They probably don't want to see me.**_

Sarada bit off a chunk. "Weif nob?"

Her companion frowned.

 _ **Swallow before you talk, Sarada.**_

Sarada waved her hand frantically as if trying to fan out the brain freeze.

"Why not?"

Her friend chuckled at her antics.

 ** _Actually they would probably be pretty freaked out if they saw me._**

Sarada narrowed her eyes. "Why? It's not like you're scary."

Her companion coughed and Sarada narrowed her eyes even further. She was sure that was supposed to be a laugh.

He smiled at her, amused.

 _ **You don't think I'm scary, Sarada?**_

She shook her head quickly, "You're probably the least scary person I've ever met. You remind me of..." She trailed off as she stared off into the garden, pondering.

As always, he waited for her patiently.

Sarada reminisced all the times her friend had made her feel when he was around, how warm and calm his presence was, as if she was cuddling a –

"You remind me of a bunny." She decided with a nod of her head.

He deadpanned.

 _ **...Bunny?**_

"Yea, all soft and warm. Like when Mama takes me to the pet shop and we get to hold the bunnies and their fur is _so_ soft."

His mouth twitched.

"And you always protect me, so a protective bunny." She concluded with a satisfied smile.

 ** _..._**

Sarada finished the remains of her ice block and swung her short legs around happily, oblivious to the strangled expression on the man's face.


	6. Of Nap Times and Dinosaurs

It was a warm, lazy and peaceful afternoon in the Hidden Village of the Leaf, and an even lazier day for the household of a certain prestigious family of three – or, a certain toddler would later argue, a family of four.

Uchiha Sarada frowned as she stared through the gaps of her crib, her tiny fingers clutching the white bars that trapped her in the small, cushioned, box-like area that, she heard from her mother, was apparently her bed.

She hated her bed.

Her mother had left her in the crib no more than 15 minutes ago, saying something about it being nap time and that Sarada must be _so_ tired from a long day. Consequently had tucked her in and left the room, and Sarada had heard her mother purr out something along the lines of "Sasukeee" before pulling the door shut.

Why do grown ups talk like that?

And so here she was, not in the least bit tired, all alone and bored out of her wits.

Sarada's eyebrows furrowed even more as she eyed the many different toys scattered around on the floor of her room and she found it so stupid how her mother had not thought to leave her toys _within_ her bed for her to play with.

No matter. She would figure out a way to get out of this prison.

She plopped back down onto her bottom and crossed her chubby arms across her chest the way she had seen her mother do on many occasions when she was at the stove contemplating what to put into a boiling pot. Looking around her bed, she noticed the tangled blankets and her fluffy pillow propped up against the bars, a masterpiece of her twisting and thrashing in her attempt to show her mother just how much that she did not want to take a nap. She also noticed how they seemed to form a miniature hill, and surely if Sarada stood on top of it...

And so she grabbed the whole of the blanket and shoved, pushing it towards the edge of the crib and moulded it into a huge lump before using all her strength to push her pillow on top of it. She leant back to admire her handy work. Now all she needed to do was climb onto the hill, pull herself over the bars and she will be free from this boring, cramped space.

Sarada bent forward on her hands and knees and began to climb. It was a lot more difficult than she had thought; her blankets were wobbly and soft and there wasn't much of a foothold, but after much wiggling and stomping, she managed to stand up so that the edge of the crib was now only just above her waist. She carefully gripped onto the edge and, keeping one foot firmly on the pillow and her chest against the bars for support, threw her other leg over. She grinned as she felt her leg swinging the free air.

And then she looked down.

Sarada suddenly realised that she hadn't thought so far as to how to get _down_ from the edge. There was a moment of panic as she registered exactly how far the floor seemed to be from her current position, and then how her arms seemed to suddenly become really weak so that they couldn't support her weight, and how she was quickly losing balance as her poorly created hill was beginning to crumble, and then Sarada was falling over the edge.

She was still so stunned by the situation that she didn't even realise that she had been caught by a pair of sinewy arms.

Sarada blinked her wide eyes and twisted to look at her rescuer, expecting to see her mother's angry face but instead saw a pair of familiar dark eyes.

She stretched out her arms and gave a little squeak of recognition; she had seen this person not so long ago lazing underneath the trees in her garden after her not – so – fun encounter with water.

The person gave a sigh before shifting his grip on her so that they now faced each other, his hands hooked under her armpits.

 _ **You're just as restless as Sasuke was.**_

Sarada cocked her head to the side and slowly swung her legs. Who was this grown up?

His black eyes twinkled and he began to lower her down back into the crib.

Sarada gave a huge squeak of protest and thrashed madly, but his grip was as firm as steel.

 _ **Good try, but you're no way near as wriggly as Sasuke was.**_

She scowled before moving on to a new tactic. She peered right into his eyes with her big round ones, and pouted.

She could see his eyebrow twitch.

 _ **No.**_

She pouted further, her eyes beginning to fog up.

His whole body twitched.

 _ **...**_

Her lips began to quiver.

Then he gave a huge sigh and her pout broke into a wide grin.

 _ **This happens every time.**_

Sarada gurgled happily as he settled her down on the floor instead. She immediately began waddling around the room, gathering up her toys in her arms until they almost blocked her vision, then made her way back to her friend who was now sitting crossed leg on the floor. She dumped her prizes into his lap and put her hands on her hips, grinning, looking up at him expectantly.

He eyed the toys then raised his eyebrow at her.

 _ **Uh...good job Sarada. You want to play?**_

Nodding, she pointed at the heap and said, "Rawr."

 _ **Rawr?**_

He looked down and picked up the stuffed dinosaur.

 _ **This?**_

Sarada squeaked happily.

 _ **Hn. Like father like daughter I guess.  
**_

XXX

"Should probably wake Sarada up, we have to head over to Naruto's soon."

"Can you do that while I get changed?"

Sasuke hummed a response and made his way to his daughter's room, reaching to pull aside the shoji door.

...

"Sakura?" He called.

"Yea?"

"...Did you put Sarada inside her crib?"

"Yes? Why?"

Sasuke blinked.

"...Nevermind."

He walked inside the room, meandering through the many scattered toys on the floor until he reached his daughter in the middle, curled into a ball, eyes closed, her thumb in her mouth and a blanket draped over her small body, the stuffed dinosaur standing guard next to her protectively.

"How did you get out Sarada?" Sasuke said quietly, more to himself than anyone. He casted a glance around the dim room, almost expecting to see someone, then reached to lift Sarada up into his arms.

"Rawr." Sarada muttered sleepily as she snuggled deeper into his warmth, her face breaking into a content smile.


	7. Of Super Ninjas and Strength

_Author's note: so I was planning to write a short, light chapter including more of the other characters and their childish/cute arguments, but then it ended up a lot longer and not quite so light...don't ask me what happened._

* * *

" _My_ friend can _fly_. In fact he's zooming around above us now as we talk. He's the coolest and his name is Super Ninja R2500."

"His name is what?!" Sarada threw her hands in the air, rolling her eyes. "Boruto, that's not even a proper name."

"It is so!" the blond shouted back, his face growing a tinge of red. "He told me himself, he fights monsters and he's even stronger than dad."

"I'm not sure if I believe that, Hokage-sama is supposed to have stopped the war, after all." Mitsuki mused, stroking his chin.

It was a calm autumn's afternoon, and the children had decided to head to the playground instead of waiting at the restaurant for their parents to finish their catching up. Grown ups talked about the most boring of matters, after all.

"Well, I definitely don't believe in imaginary friends. It's so troublesome having to make them up." Shikadai's voice floated from his position on the slide.

"Super Ninja R2500 is not imaginary!"

Sarada rolled her eyes again, adding more fuel to Boruto's fire.

"Just cause _you_ don't have any friends Sarada."

Sarada narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "I do so, and my one's real. He's super strong and he lives in my house, he plays with me all the time and protects me from scary things -"

"Whatever, what's his name?"

"His name is –"

Sarada stopped short. His name? She had never asked for it. Sarada frowned, why had it never occurred to her that she didn't know his name?

Boruto snorted, "You don't even know your friend's name? Obviously fake then."

Sarada flushed angrily. "I just never asked! I don't need to call him cause he's always there! I'll go home and ask him tonight and - "

"Yea whatever. I bet he's not as strong as Super Ninja R2500 anyway."

"Why did you even give him such a long name?" Shikadai mumbled from his spot.

"He's strong!" Sarada stomped her foot. "Super strong!"

"He's fa- _ake_."

"Is not!"

"Is so!"

"So is yours, Boruto." Mitsuki pointed out.

"Shut up!" Sarada and Boruto shouted, their voices so loud the brown leaves shook loose from their branches.

Both children glared at each other until Sakura's voice reached them through the wind, "Kids! Home time!"

Sarada scowled and began to stomp her way across the playground. She didn't make her friend up, he was real, so real she could touch him. He had always been there by her side, he couldn't be imaginary. But...her heart sank, there was so much she didn't know about him, she didn't even know his name! Sarada suddenly became horrified that maybe she _was_ crazy in the head. She couldn't have imagined all of it, could she?

She felt a small hand tug at hers and Sarada looked questionably down at the owner.

"I believe you Sarada, Neji-nii-chan told me that you probably have a friend in your house too." Himawari said cheerfully, smiling.

Sarada blinked. "Neji? Who's that?"

"He's Himawari's made up friend named after our Uncle cause she has a _crush_ on him." Boruto called over his shoulder, "Girls are stupid."

Sarada was about to give him a piece of her mind when Himawari squeezed her hand and whispered, "Don't worry Sarada, Nii-chan is just jealous since he can't see him, only I can. I don't think Neji-nii-chan wants to be seen."

Sarada's eyes widened as the younger girl's words sank in, "That's the same as my friend!" she whispered back desperately, "I don't know why but I'm the only one that can see him in our house! Papa and Mama both can't see him! But..." Sarada trailed off as she remembered the expressions on her friend's face, "Isn't it lonely?"

Himawari smiled, "Neji-nii-chan says he doesn't mind, he just wants to protect us. He's real strong you know, although he said he's not as strong as dad, he said dad is the strongest person he knows!" Himawari said, beaming.

Sarada smiled and patted her hair, a million thoughts racing through her mind. "I bet he is..."

XXX

Sarada stopped dead in her tracks, her hand outstretched, ready to slide open the shoji door to the room that she knew her friend would be in, but something was holding her back. She realised with a pang that it was doubt, a cold, heart-sinking feeling of doubt.

Because what if the room was empty?

It was almost midnight and Sarada had been trying for hours to fall asleep, but her mind was so awake, running through all her memories and thoughts and causing her heart to race. It was impossible to sleep without finding out the truth.

She gritted her teeth. Her friend _had_ to be real, she had trusted him since the first time she saw him, relied on him whenever she was in trouble, there was no way she could have made everything up.

But what if she had? What if everything was just a figment of her imagination because she was so lonely from being left alone at home? Had she gone crazy? Had the darkness from under her bed, in between the cracks of the floorboards and in the depths of her wardrobe, finally gotten to her?

Sarada didn't realise she was shaking until her fingertips finally brushed against the door. She took a deep breath; she was going to grow up to be a strong ninja like her parents, she can't let something like this get to her.

With one fluid motion she yanked the door aside.

He was sitting cross legged on the floor next to a shogi board with his arms folded as he surveyed the game. She felt her legs weaken when the familiar warmth, almost like sunlight, brushed softly against her skin.

He looked up from his game and greeted her with a smile.

 _ **Can't sleep Sarada? I think you're becoming a little too old for bedtime stories though.**_

Sarada couldn't help it, she started crying.

 _ **...I don't mind telling you one if you really want me to...?**_

The look of helpless bewilderment and horror on his face made her laugh right through her tears and it took all she had not to throw herself at him.

He motioned for her with an outstretched arm and she walked obediently towards him, allowing him to gently poke her forehead before falling into his embrace, his hand patting her hair until her sobbing slowly subsided.

 _ **Did you get teased by Boruto again?**_

Sarada scowled as she brushed her face off with her palm, settling herself down in a sitting position next to him. "He's so annoying."

 _ **Hn. Tell him you can kick his butt any day.**_

She let out a weak giggle. "How do you know?"

 _ **Because your father could beat the crap out of his father when they were your age.**_

Sarada's stopped giggling and eyed him suspiciously. "Really? Did you see them?"

His eyes fell back onto the shogi board.

 _ **No, but I knew.**_

Sarada frowned. "You always say you know things, but you never tell me properly."

He chuckled, shoulders shaking slightly.

 _ **I suppose it's a bad habit of mine.**_

As if she knew what _that_ meant.

Sarada huffed and crossed her arms, casting him glances from the corners of her eyes.

It didn't matter, she finally realised as she watched him reach out to move the knight across the board, it didn't matter that she didn't know what his name was or _who_ he was, as long as she knew that he was real, sitting right here next to her. Her shoulders relaxed as she felt an invisible weight lift from her chest. Who cared if Boruto didn't believe her anyway? He was an idiot.

There _was_ one thing she was curious about though.

"Ne, you're really strong right?"

He turned towards her, eyebrow raised.

 _ **Come again?**_

"Are you stronger than Boruto's dad?"

She could almost _feel_ his amusement; it was as if the warmth projected on her was dancing with laughter.

 _ **Why do you ask?**_

She shrugged, "I just want to say it to Boruto's face."

He chuckled.

 _ **I don't know about that...the Hokage is really strong after all.**_

Sarada pouted, disappointed. "What about Papa? Are you stronger than him?"

This time he laughed.

 _ **Your father, huh.**_

Sarada waited impatiently as he stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

 _ **I suppose he is stronger now.**_

Sarada first felt disappointment. She had always thought her friend was invincible, but then if her Papa was ever stronger...a rush of pride enveloped her body and she beamed up at him. But hold on – was that _annoyance_ she saw on his face?

 _ **But I AM smarter.**_

* * *

 _Author's note: and so the plot thickens...*dramatic music*...or something like that. A few of you wanted to have Sarada find out more about Itachi, I think I would like that too, but not quite yet and in not such a way. In any case this definitely means she's growing curious._

 _On a another note, you guys are amazing! *Makes Itachi glomp everyone* Appreciate your support for this fic! :D Please continue to RR!_


	8. Of Ramen and Wall Climbing

_Author's note: Your reviews have been making my work life a hell lot happier and I can't thank you guys enough! Just a few more chapters of fluffness before we move on with the plot - yes I have decided that there shall be a plot! Although I haven't decided on the ending. Stay tuned to find out, I guess...? :D_

* * *

It was a quiet night in the Uchiha residence; all was still aside from the slight rustling of the leaves in the garden and the occasional drip, drip of water droplets returning to the pond from the motionless water wheel. Even the moon seemed to shy behind a few slumbering clouds, as if afraid she would disturb the peace and tranquillity of the sleeping residents with her bright beams.

Yes, all was still.

Until a pair of round eyes peeked open and the owner's head poked out from her crib.

It wasn't such a quiet night for Uchiha Sarada.

She pushed against her blankets with all her might until she had formed her usual escape route and grinned as she sneakily made her way up the hill, her fingers reaching out to clutch the edge of the crib before pulling herself into a standing position on the wobbly fortress.

And then Sarada jumped.

Then clapped her hands excitedly as familiar arms grabbed her from mid air.

She muffled her giggles with her small palms as she glanced up at her catcher's slightly annoyed face.

 _ **This has become a dangerous habit Sarada. What if next time I'm not around to catch you?**_

Sarada cocked her head to the side and gave him a look as if to say, "You're _always_ around."

His eye twitched.

 _ **I'm just saying...**_

She wiggled her bottom a bit, demanding to be let down.

 _ **You need sleep in order to grow you know.**_

But as soon as her tiny feet touched the floor, she was already sprinting towards the toy box at the opposite side of the room. Suddenly he materialised right in front of her, blocking her tracks, causing Sarada to give a huge scowl as she glared up at his towering figure.

 _ **Since you don't want to sleep, we might as well make better use of our time.**_

She attempted to crawl in between his legs.

 _ **Sasuke would've loved to train.**_

She gave a small squeak of annoyance as he picked her up into his arms again and looked sternly at her.

 _ **Sarada, I'm going to teach you about chakra, then I'm going to teach you chakra control so you won't need me to catch you every time or save you from silly accidents like falling into a mere pond.**_

An average shinobi would've incredulously stared in response to the man's crazy idea to teach a 2 year old about chakra, let alone how to control it, but obviously Uchiha Sarada came from a not-quite-so-average lineage of shinobi, and she also had a not-quite-so-average teacher.

And so she allowed herself to be sat down onto her friend's lap and listened curiously as he talked, his voice reaching not just her ears but seeming to enter right into her core, and her wide eyes could only stare at his red, spinning ones as images of herself jumping from roof to roof and sprinting on water appeared repeatedly in her mind.

XXX

"I'm telling you Naruto, she's climbing up the walls faster than you can form a kage bunshin! I don't know when or where she learnt it from, she's barely 3!" Sakura gave an exasperated huff as she slammed her cup onto the dining table, almost cracking it.

It was a rare afternoon where Naruto had managed to sneak out of the office to visit Sakura for lunch on her day off, after leaving a kage bunshin in his place at the Hokage desk. Sakura had gladly whipped up two bowls of steaming ramen at her friend's arrival (after securely positioning Sarada in her play room).

Naruto gave a hearty laugh as he swirled his chopsticks. "With yours and Sasuke's genes? I wouldn't be surprised if she masters summons by her next birthday."

Sakura rubbed her temples in frustration. "It doesn't make any sense, we didn't properly learn Chakra control from Kakashi-sensei until we were almost 13, how is it possible that she's able to climb walls already? I know _I_ never taught her, and Sasuke's never around either."

She peered at him suspiciously.

"You haven't been kidnapping my daughter for training have you?"

Naruto pulled his head out of his bowl, seaweed sticking to his cheeks, and gave a loud snort, "Do you have _any_ idea how busy I've been? And I'd rather teach my own kid." He glowered at her, "You geniuses always have it easy."

"I don't want to hear that from you." Sakura muttered under her breath and grimaced at his lack of table manners as he dug his head in the bowl again – some things never change, Hokage promotion or not.

"When did she start sticking to walls anyway? I'd be lucky if Boruto stopped falling out of his chair."

Sakura frowned, tracing back her memories. It was a few weeks ago when Sakura had noticed, one afternoon, that Sarada was once again missing from her bed. She had gone on a frantic search, heart beating against her chest as she rushed out to check the pond and in between the bushes, half relieved when she didn't find any wandering babies in the garden and had dashed back into the house to search underneath the tables and chairs. Naturally it hadn't occurred for her to look _up_ , and it was by pure coincidence when she had thrown her head back in desperation that she noticed her daughter crawling up the walls of one of the bedrooms. Her jaw had dropped in shock and it wasn't until Sarada was dangerously on the verge of falling as she had tried to take the step from wall to ceiling that Sakura had given a command for the baby to " _get her feet onto the ground at once!_ " _._ Her daughter had all but given her a toothy grin before she, to Sakura's horror, lifted her hands off to wall as if wanting a hug and unstuck herself completely from the wall. If it wasn't for Sakura's ninja reflexes, the pink haired kunoichi shuddered at the thought, she would've crash landed on the ground instead of in Sakura's arms.

"You know what...I think it was a while after she had that accident in the pond." Her eyebrows furrowed at the memory and she gave a wary glance towards the direction of the garden, "Is it possible for a 2 year old to pull herself out of deep water?"

Naruto gave a shrug. He had already heard the story from an unusually anxious Sasuke during one much needed drinking night. For Naruto, it didn't matter what or how it happened as long as Sarada had ended up unharmed, as he himself had caused many little accidents during his baby days. In fact, he had been quite proud of the little genius. "Obviously your one can."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. It had been a strange, unexplained incident that still caused her blood to run cold whenever the memory popped uninvitingly into her mind. She remembered feeling as if her heart would stop when she had heard the loud splash coming from the garden, and she couldn't bear to think what would've happened if she and Sasuke hadn't walked back into the house to fetch his bento.

And Sasuke had apparently been _sure_ that he had packed said bento into his bag too.

Naruto wiped his mouth on his sleeve and casted his friend a glance. "Ma, Sakura-chan, don't worry about it. It's not a bad thing that Sarada's teaching herself to be a ninja a little early. It just means she'll be able to protect herself better."

Sakura sighed, "But that's what I _don't want._ The word is at peace now, I'd rather her have a proper childhood than to be a genius, she doesn't _need_ to be." She then continued to mumble something along the lines of "regretting having married herself into some bloodline of crazy prodigies".

It was at that moment when a puff of smoke appeared from behind them and an exact replica of the blond man sitting next to her stood in between the smokes, scratching his chin.

"Boss, Shika said that if you don't get your sorry ass back to the office now, he's gonna assign himself a one year mission to the Sand to do experiments on cloud watching."

"Lazy _bastard_." Naruto muttered under his breath and gave a huge grumble as he pushed himself up from the chair, "Can't a man have a decent meal?"

Sakura smiled sympathetically as she also stood to walk him towards the door, "I'll make you some more ramen next time you come over ne, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto flashed her a huge grin. "Thanks for the meal, Sakura-chan!"

"Can _I_ stay?" The bunshin said hopefully, causing the real Naruto to scowl and dismiss him in another puff of smoke.

As Naruto took his time to put on his shoes, he glanced at the pink haired medic nin and noticed the unsettled expression on his best friend's face. He gave an understanding smile and straightened up to place a hand on Sakura's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Being a genius doesn't mean not being able to have a childhood, Sakura-chan. Under my – _our_ protection, I'll make sure our kids experience the happiest childhood possible, believe me!"

He gave her a trademark grin of promise, before whipping around to walk himself out the door, his long white cloak billowing out from behind him with the words "Nanadaime Hokage" almost shimmering under the afternoon sun. As she watched him leave, her face helplessly broke out into a smile – because she _did_ believe him. She always had.

That didn't stop her, however, from screaming bloody murder when she walked back into the house only to see Sarada in the garden walking _on_ the pond, her arms out in front of her and giggling as if she was reaching towards someone.


	9. Of Rainy Visits and Trademark Jutsus

_Author's note: Yay I'm back! Sorry for the rather gloomy and non-fluffy chapter, but it's only fair that we give our dumbass Sasuke a chapter of his own. Plus to get the plot going! Once again many thanks and appreciation for your reviews!_

* * *

The rain was falling in a light shower and the grey clouds formed a dim shadow onto the village of Konoha. A lone figure trudged steadily up a hill, his dark hair matted and wet from the rain and his travel cloak dripped with rainwater. He paid no heed to his drenched state however – shinobi had no fear of the rain, although he might have to endure a heated lecture about health from his wife when he returned home. _That_ could be scary.

Perhaps he should have gone back to change and fetch an umbrella?

Sasuke gave a mental shake of his head; he didn't want to be late.

As his destination came into view, he was not surprised to see another figure already there with his back facing him, one hand in his pocket and another holding an umbrella.

 _This_ man couldn't afford to get sick after all.

Sasuke silently reached the man's side and stood facing the gray stone, eyes falling on the single flower resting next to it.

"I didn't think you'd have time this year," Sasuke said as he knelt down a bit to trace his fingers over the etched name on the cool, damp surface.

Naruto grinned his response. He knew this was the closest of a 'thanks' he could ever get from his best friend. "I'm not a heartless bastard like you."

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he straightened. He felt Naruto shift the umbrella a bit so that the rain now only brushed off his shoulders.

"It's been a while, Nii-san."

They fell into silence, head bowed, listening to the sound of the rain falling.

After a while Sasuke lifted his head and eyed the hokage from the corner of his eye.

The first year after Itachi's death, Naruto had attached himself to the raven haired boy and refused to leave him alone as Sasuke paid his respects at Itachi's grave. They had both been solemn then; memories from the fourth war still fresh in their minds and their hearts had been filled with regret and mourning. Although Sasuke would never admit it, he had been glad for the other's company. The second year, Naruto had tagged himself along again, saying that Itachi had been as much of a brother to him than he was Sasuke's, having rekindled the fire inside him that had been close to dying as he had felt the distance between his friend and him growing further and further. Without Itachi, Naruto had said, he wouldn't have had the strength to be where he was now. The third year, Sasuke's grumble had lessened and he had merely given a sigh as Naruto had bounded up the hill with a bouquet of flowers in his hands, leaving Sasuke to trail behind him in his wake. By the fourth year, they had formed an unspoken promise to meet at Itachi's grave on that specific day unless their missions forbade them from returning. So far, Sasuke had missed three of them.

Sasuke blinked at his friend's now cheerful face, no doubt inwardly telling his brother everything that had been happening in the past year. They had moved on from the grim, sad visits so many years ago – now it was more like meeting up with an old friend who didn't reply, but only ever patiently listened.

Sasuke realised with slight nostalgia that Itachi had, indeed, always been that: patiently listening to his little brother go off about his day, ranting about a stupid blond in his class that never shut up, whining about not being able to hit the targets with his shuriken and begging for his older brother to train with him.

Itachi had always listened.

Was he now too, Sasuke wondered as he tilted his head up to look at the gray sky, listening?

"Why the sad face? Jealous that I'm getting more attention from your brother than you are?" Naruto teased, clapping a hand on the other man's shoulder.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he gave his friend a deadpanned look.

Jealous? Him?

If Sasuke knew any better he could've sworn he heard Itachi chuckling through the wind.

 _ **He's definitely jealous.**_

But the two adults heard only the rain.

"When are you going to tell Sarada about her uncle?" Naruto questioned as they said their goodbyes and made their way down the hill.

Sasuke pondered the question in silence. He had brought Sarada to see Itachi the moment she was old enough to leave the house. Carrying her in his arms he had knelt down in front the gravestone and lifted Sarada's tiny baby hands to touch the cool surface.

Itachi would have loved Sarada, would have protected her and loved her as much as he did his younger brother.

But there had been a pang of guilt and pain had stabbed at his heart when Sarada reached out both her hands to touch the stone, her small, curious face breaking into a giggle as her fingers brushed his brother's name.

Itachi would never be able to meet Sarada, and Sarada would never have an uncle.

Sasuke didn't know how to break it to his daughter that _he_ was the reason why she wouldn't have an uncle.

He had vowed not to cry over Itachi again after letting the ocean wind dry his tears that day up on the rocks when he had decided to exterminate the village that Itachi had given up his life for. He had not shed a tear when he had met Itachi's resurrected form and fought alongside him, heard him tell him he loved him and treated him as an equal...and his eyes had been dry still when he had watched, once again, as his brother disappeared from his life forever.

But as Sarada's giggle reached his ears, Uchiha Sasuke had cried.

He had held on desperately to his daughter's tiny form, knelt down in front of his brother's gravestone and he had wept with his whole body shaking.

After that, Sasuke had never brought Sarada to the grave again.

Out of guilt? Out of fear?

Sasuke had always been a coward when it came to emotions, and he didn't want to face either. Itachi would probably have been disappointed in him, but the pain in his heart had overridden the desire to please his brother.

"You hardly bring Sakura-chan to see Itachi either. Are you actually jealous?" Naruto placed a hand to his chest, a shocked look on his face as he jolted Sasuke out of his thoughts.

There was a satisfying _whack_ , followed by a streak of colourful words that emitted from the blond's mouth. Sasuke rolled his eyes as the umbrella slipped out of the blond's fingers and fell to the wet ground with a clatter.

"What the – you can't hit the Hokage!"

"I can do whatever I want." Sasuke breathed out with as much enthusiasm as their Nara friend as he bent to pick up the umbrella.

Naruto scowled at him, rubbing the back of his head furiously. "But really. When are you going to let her know about her hero uncle?"

Sasuke lifted the umbrella back over their heads and tapped the handle with his finger absentmindedly. "She's still young."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You of all people should know how perceptive 8 year olds are."

"It's a bloody tale."

"We're _ninjas_."

"...He wouldn't want to scar her."

"He was a _hero_."

"..."

"...I never thought you and Sakura-chan would make overprotective parents." Naruto muttered as he reached to clasp his hands against the back of his head. "You know, if you told her the whole story properly, she'd understand. You Uchihas have a bad habit of explaining things to people way too late, and you guys seriously need to quit it with your protecting from the shadows crap..."

To this day, it still amazed Sasuke at how well his friend seemed to know him.

"You gotta tell them everything loud and clear to get the message across, like I do." Naruto grinned widely as he jabbed his thumb against his chest proudly.

Sasuke grimaced. There was no way in hell that he would ever be as loud and embarrassing as Naruto with his speeches. However...

"I'll think about it."

Then Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. The blond looked over his shoulder at him questioningly. Sasuke gave a huge, frustrated and very un-Sasuke-like groan as he realised he had lost to Naruto's speak-some-sense-into-their-thick-skull-jutsu once again.


	10. Of Snowman and Singing

_Author's note: Hiiii I'm back with more uncle and niece moments! Yay! I know that Itachi might be a little OOC here...but just cause he's a smartass doesn't mean he can't have fun right? To be honest, this is how I imagine Itachi to be when he was younger and didn't have all those clan responsibility crap...my poor baby waahhh *cries forever* Please RR!_

* * *

It was snowing.

Delicate, soft flakes drifted almost lazily from the pale gray sky and fell silently onto the ground, the surface a perfectly smooth carpet of white, undisturbed still in the early hours of the morning.

Although not for long.

"S-no!" came a high pitched squeak that tore through the silence.

Uchiha Sarada bounced up and down in ecstasy after she pushed aside her bedroom door to be greeted by the first snows of the winter.

She stared wide eyed at the serene view in front of her and took a few steps to reach the edge of the wooden floorboards, reaching out a tiny hand to catch a falling flake. She giggled and cringed a bit at the icy coldness that slowly melted against the warmth of her opened palm. Then she threw her arms up in the air and cheered at the top of her lungs again, "S'no!"

The raven haired child turned and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her towards her parent's bedroom and slid the door open with both hands. She channelled a tiny bit of chakra to her feet and gave a giant leap towards the huge bed in the middle of the room.

"Mama! S'no!"

Sakura gave an "oof!" as she felt something barrel into her chest. She sat up, alert and prepared to counterattack, before her sleepy eyes landed on her daughter's slightly flushed but way too excited face staring up at her. It took her a few seconds to register that she was not, in fact, under enemy attack, but at the mercy of none other than her three year old daughter. Sakura groaned as she fell back towards her pillow and yanked the blankets up to cover her face, hoping for nothing more but to _be_ under enemy attack so that she could punch her enemies to pulp and fall back asleep.

"Five more minutes..." she mumbled into the fabric, almost hoping that she would get suffocated instead of having to wake up.

"Mama!" Sarada became impatient and tugged at her mother's blankets. "S'no! Play!"

"Get Papa to play." Sakura grumbled as she turned towards her side, causing Sarada to fall off her with a surprised yelp.

Sarada frowned as she lay upside down with her feet in the air. "Silly Mama. Papa no here."

Sakura mentally cursed her husband.

(A few villages away, Uchiha Sasuke sneezed in his sleep and buried deeper into his sleeping bag, his eyebrows deeply furrowed.)

"Mamaaaaaa." Sarada whined as she batted at her mother's pink head like a cat, but the medic nin only burrowed herself further into the mattress. "It's too early Sarada, go back to bed."

Said child gave a huge pout and huffed. She untangled herself from the blankets and stepped over to the edge of the bed before jumping off, landing on the cold floor almost too nimbly for someone her age.

 _Well if Mama doesn't wanna play, I'll just have to find him!_

So Sarada marched out of her parent's room and straight to the garden. She carefully aligned her toes right on the edge of the wooden floorboards and stood still. She looked around left and right, counted quietly to 10, then bent her knees. With a high pitched squeal she leapt off the floorboards, pushing hard against the wood with the soles of her feet so that she flew into the air, her arms spread out as if flying. As she felt the chill air whipping her face she waited excitedly for her friend to appear so that she would fly into his embrace as she always did. She had even given him 10 seconds warning – any moment now...

Except, a moment too late, she realised that she was losing to gravity and said friend was still _nowhere in sight_. With a yelp she flailed her arms and legs frantically, realising with panic that she had never been taught to fly, then fell face first with a dull thud into the thick layer of freezing cold snow.

Sarada lay stunned for a moment before feeling the wet chill seep through her clothes and seemingly under her skin. She _eeped_ and jumped hastily up, feeling a shiver run from the tips of her hair all the way down to her toes, then lost her footing and staggered back so that she fell _backwards_ onto the snow again.

There was an amused snort of laughter and Sarada narrowed her eyes before leaping up again to scramble back onto the wooden floorboards.

She glared at the figure sitting against the wall, his hand at his mouth to muffle his laughter and his eyes twinkling.

"Y-y-you no c-catch!"

Sarada's teeth were chattering as she pointed a shaking finger at him accusingly.

He lowered his hand as if to say something but instead buried his face in his palms again and succumbed to another fit of silent laughter.

"Rawr!" Sarada stomped her foot and raised her arms in an ironically dinosaur-like way, then she charged.

 _ **Wait no –**_

She tackled him, cutting off his laughter and made sure to hug him tightly so that the cold would seep into him too. He gave a cry as she placed her tiny cold hands on his neck and twitched as she rubbed her cold face against his chest.

 _ **Sa-ra-da...!**_

But she only hung on to him like a baby koala and he gave a helpless laugh.

 _ **I did say I can't be there to catch you**_ **all** _ **the time.**_

Sarada loosened her grip on him and perched herself on his lap. With a light _whack_ she brought two cold palms onto each side of his cheeks, causing his jaw to drop a bit. "No. Catch _all_ times." She then folded her arms across her chest as she looked up at him sternly, almost as if scolding him. "Traita."

He raised an amused eyebrow as he rubbed his cheeks.

 _ **Traitor? Is that how you talk to your elders, Sarada?**_

Sarada stuck out her tongue. "Meanie."

He chuckled again before brushing a damp hair from her cheek fondly.

 _ **We need to get you dry and into your winter clothes Sarada, then we can play.**_

XXX

"D'you wana build a s'nooomaaaaangggg."

Sarada sang loudly as she pushed and shoved at her slowly growing snowball.

"Dun dun dun dun dun dun an plaaaaaaay."

 _ **...**_

She stopped pushing and stood back to admire the snowball that was almost half her height, then gave a quick glance at her friend who was standing as still as a statue in the snow. She stuck out her tongue a bit in concentration, seeming to measure her "artwork" with the "model", then knelt again to gather up a bit more snow.

"D'you wana – "

 _ **Sarada. What song is that?**_

She paused and looked at him with an almost offended expression.

"Elsa! Duhhhh."

 _ **...Sarada -**_

"Snowman can't talk!"

So he remained quiet and still as she continued her work while singing the same lines to the song over and over again.

* * *

Many years ago:

 _Sasuke:_

 _*Knock knock*_

 _Nii-san? Do you wanna throw a shuriken?_

 _Come on let's go and train!_

 _I wish you'd spend more time with me_

 _Stop ignoring me_

 _Am I really such a pain?_

 _You always say "Next time Sasuke"  
_

 _Then poke my head_

 _I wish you would stop the lies!_

 _Do you wanna throw a shuriken?_

 _It doesn't have to be a shuriken!_

 _Itachi:_

 _...Next time, Sasuke._

 _Sasuke:_

 _*Pout*_

* * *

 _Obviously I do not own any desperate Sasukes or Disney songs, but yea sorry I couldn't resist LOL_


	11. Of Earthquakes and the New Year

_"Hurry up Nii-san!" a small raven haired boy tugged at his brother's hand as they made their way through the crowded festival. "We gotta meet up with Tou-san and Kaa-san and say our prayers before everyone else otherwise they won't come true!"_

 _Itachi smiled and held on to the little boy's hand. "Calm down Sasuke, there's a lot of people around, we don't want you to get lost."_

 _Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I'm not a little kid!"_

 _"Oh right, you're a big kid. Okay. Keep close."_

 _Sasuke pouted but obediently allowed his brother to tighten his grip on him._

 _The new years festival was well under way in the Village of Konoha and people were swarming towards the temple to make their wishes for the coming year. The snow had eased up for the night and the sky shimmered with stars. Itachi couldn't help but smile as he bathed in the festivity; the colourful paper lanterns lighting up the streets, the buzzing of laughter and chatter in the air, the sound of drums and music from the distance…the night was supposed to be freezing but he felt so **warm**. This, he thought to himself as he watched his little brother's eager face, was what he was fighting for; this was what he would give his life to protect._

 _"Sasuke! Itachi! Over here!"_

 _Itachi looked up to search for the caller. He squinted to see his mother waving at them at the top of the temple steps, their father next to her. Itachi frowned; there was a huge crowd blocking them from reaching their parents._

 _"Kaa-sannnn!" Sasuke called and waved his hands frantically in return. "It's gona take aaaages before we can walk up there!"_

 _Itachi looked down at his brother's frustrated face, then tilted his head up to search for his father's eyes. Upon catching Fugaku's gaze, he lifted a hand to point upwards. Fugaku raised an eyebrow, then gave a rare smile before nodding his head. Itachi almost grinned._

 _"Come on Sasuke, let's take a shortcut."_

 _"Eh?"_

 _Itachi knelt down and gave a small jerk of his head. He almost laughed as his brother's round face changed from hesitant curiosity to pure glee and he clambered quickly onto Itachi's back. Keeping a firm grip on Sasuke's legs, Itachi took to the roofs._

 _"Ne, isn't this cheating?" Sasuke questioned as Itachi landed on lamp post before pushing upwards, soaring over the crowd. He gave a shrug. "I'm Anbu captain."_

 _Sasuke grinned._

 _"I'm gonna say that one day too Nii-san!"_

 _Itachi chuckled and landed nimbly next to their parents._

 _"Meanwhile though Sasuke, you should play by the rules." He said as Sasuke climbed off his back._

 _"Kaa-san! Tou-san!" Sasuke beamed up at his parents. Itachi couldn't help but think that what he just said had been completely ignored...ah, it was new years, what gives._

 _"Come, let's go say our prayers." Mikoto smiled at her sons before taking both their hands in hers._

 _The family stood in a row, threw their coins, bowed and clapped their hands together twice, eyes closed as they sent their prayers to the skies._

 _"What did you wish for, Sasuke?" Itachi asked while they made their way down._

 _"If I told you, it won't come true!" Sasuke said as he slipped his smaller hand into his brother's bigger ones. Itachi only chuckled. "Fine, fine."_

 _Sasuke looked up towards his brother's relaxed face, then turned to glance at his parents behind them; Mikoto's arm were linked with Fugaku's crossed ones, their smiling faces almost glowing against the lanterns._

 _"But I guess I can tell you, Nii-san." Sasuke turned back to smile up at his brother. Itachi raised an eyebrow as his little brother motioned for him to lean closer. Itachi knelt to allow his brother to whisper into his ear._

 _"I wished for us to always be together!"_

XXX

Uchiha Sarada was awoken by an earthquake.

Well, at least it _seemed_ like an earthquake.

There was a crash, a cry, some more shaking, then silence.

Then a thud and a frustrated scream.

That sounded terribly like her mother.

Sarada sighed and reluctantly opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a moment and tried to blink away the drowsiness. It was extremely warm under the covers, and one look out her window told her that it was another freezing, snowy winter day outside. Sarada really did not want to get out of bed today…

Boom, crash, frustrated cry.

She heaved another great sigh.

Bracing herself for the cold, she sat upright and threw off the covers, feeling a shiver run down her back as the chill air attacked her.

After she had gone through her morning routines and had dressed herself warmly, she followed the source of the crashes and yelps to the last room down the hall. Sarada raised an eyebrow as she saw dust billowing out from the door.

"Mama, what are you doing?"

Sarada stepped into the room and almost tripped over a cardboard box that lay right in her path. In fact, there were cardboard boxes scattered all over the room, some stacked up on top of another, some opened with overflowing objects and some sealed tightly shut. A huge, bulky rubbish bag sat right in the middle of the room.

Sarada frowned at the thought of how her friend probably would not be happy about what his room had been turned into. Where was he anyway?

"Oh, Sarada, sorry did I wake you?" Sakura replied breathlessly as she lifted a heavy box to stack on top of another.

Sarada muttered something like "You think?" under her breath, then evaded the box in front of her to enter the room.

"It's new years, we gotta clean up the house and throw away things we don't need. Care to help?"

Sarada took in her mother's tired grin, her face and hair smudged with dust and soot. She gave a shrug.

Her mother beamed and directed her towards the closet.

"I'll leave this room in your care then. Throw all the things you think we won't need into the huge plastic bags and everything else into the boxes."

Sakura sneezed and waved the air in front of her face before patting Sarada on the head and leaving to clear out another bedroom. Sarada took a deep breath and dove head first into the closet.

She didn't realise they had so many useless things in the house. Old scrolls, baggy clothes and uniforms with holes, tattered books, broken toys – Hey! Her stuffed dinosaur!

Sarada picked it up gingerly by the tail and wrinkled her nose a little at the dust gathered on the toy. She turned it around in her hand, blurred memories of her baby days swimming through her mind as she tried batting away the dust, only to end up sneezing as they got into her nose. She glanced at the toy with watery eyes, then placed it quietly into the box next to her.

It took another hour for Sarada to clear out the closet, and by that time she had filled another three boxes and four plastic bags. She wiped her forehead against her sleeve and let out a relieved sigh.

She ducked her head into the closet for one last look to make sure she had cleared everything, and that was when she noticed something etched onto the wooden wall at the far end. Sarada frowned and took one step inside the closet to get a better look. Someone – a kid probably, had drawn a family of stick figures – a father, mother and two boys. Sarada reached to rub away the dusts on the faded picture and squinted to read the words written underneath them.

 _For Sasuke,_

 _Always together._

 _From Itachi._

* * *

 _Author's note: DUN DUN DUN...Please RR xD_


	12. Of Wishes and Fear

_When Itachi opened the door to his home that night, he was greeted by silence. He stood there for a moment, watching the empty, dark corridor and the shadows that loomed and morphed into creatures that snarled._

 _Itachi was not afraid of the silence or the monsters hidden within the shadows – he was deadlier than them._

 _He gave a weary sigh and made his way noiselessly through the house and into his bedroom. Moonlight trickled in through the open window, casting the room in an almost dream like state. Placing his weapon pouch on his desk, he turned to fall back against his bed, only to be interrupted by a strange noise that came from his left side._

 ** _Scratch, scratch, scratch._**

 _Itachi paused, ears perked._

 ** _Scratch._**

 _His closet door was slightly ajar._

 _Itachi waited, sinking his presence into the shadows, and with two fluid motions he pulled the closet door aside completely._

 _His shoulders relaxed._

 _"What are you doing Sasuke?"_

 _His little brother froze with his arm still outstretched towards the wall, his eyes wide with alarm as he whipped up to face him and his mouth opened in a soundless gasp._

 _Sasuke had managed to squeeze into the little space that was unoccupied by boxes and junk and was crouched against the wall, a blunt kunai in his right hand. The round charcoal eyes that peered back up at him were wide with shock and – Itachi winced inwardly – fear._

 _He didn't like it when Sasuke looked at him with fear. The whole world could fear him, hate him, want to kill him…but not Sasuke._

 _Itachi knelt down slowly to Sasuke's level, making sure his face was visible in the moonlight._

 _"What are you doing?" He repeated gently._

 _Sasuke seemed to come to his senses at Itachi's voice and immediately shoved the kunai into his pocket and tried to cover the wall with his hands._

 _"Uh…uh….nothing! Um….I'm just…I'm playing hide and seek!"_

 _Itachi raised an eyebrow._

 _"Alone?"_

 _Sasuke gulped, "It's a new version of hide and seek!"_

 _Itachi's eyebrow rose further._

 _There was an awkward silence (on Sasuke's part anyway, Itachi found it quite amusing and almost a brotherly duty to make his younger sibling feel uncomfortable), then Sasuke sighed and slid down the wall. "I'm sorry…I lied."_

 _Itachi's lips curved upwards a little and he reached to move the boxes so that he had enough space to crawl inside the closet too. He waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cramped space and squinted to see what Sasuke had been doing to his wall._

 _"Are you trying to draw something?"_

 _Sasuke twitched, then curled himself into a ball to hide his face in between his knees, mumbling something._

 _"I can't hear you Sasuke."_

 _Sasuke lifted his head up a little to peek at his brother from between his bangs. "You're…you're never home anymore, and Tou-san's always working, even Kaa-san's busy all the time…," the boy's round eyes fell towards the floor, "I wanted to draw a picture of us all together."_

 _"On my wall?"_

 _Itachi could almost see the flush in Sasuke's cheeks despite the lack of light. "I wanted it to stay forever! And…we used to always play in your room…" he trailed off._

 _The older boy felt a stab at his heart at his little brother's words. It was true; from the moment Sasuke had learnt to walk he had always snuck into his older brother's room to play, and Itachi had always welcomed him with open arms, agreeing to participate in whatever game his little brother had come up with. It was as he grew older that Itachi became more and more busy, but he would still allow Sasuke to creep into his room when he wanted to, even if it was just to take a nap on his bed while Itachi worked on his reports._

 _Yet Itachi had forgotten when it was that he had last seen Sasuke sneak into his room – purely because of the fact that he had never been in the room himself. He wondered how often his little brother had crept into his room while he was away, how often he had waited, alone, for Itachi to return._

 _Itachi shifted a bit so that he was sitting with his legs on either side of Sasuke and he tugged his little brother against his chest. Sasuke gave a squeak as he fell backwards against his older brother._

 _"Nii-saaan I'm too old for hugs."_

 _Itachi smiled a little before taking out his own kunai from his pocket. He rested his chin on Sasuke's messy hair and began to scratch away at the wall, continuing on from where Sasuke had left off._

 _"Aren't you afraid of the dark? There's barely any light in here." Itachi asked, trying to make small talk as he drew a leg on the stick figure._

 _Sasuke gave a huff, "I'm not scared of the dark!"_

 _Itachi chuckled, "Don't come running into my room when you have bad dreams then."_

 _Sasuke's ears turned pink. "I don't…that was a long time ago...!" Sasuke puffed out his cheeks and pointed at the stick figure Itachi was currently drawing, "That's Kaa-san, so she has to wear a dress."_

 _Itachi hummed and complied, drawing a simple dress on Mikoto._

 _"…It doesn't matter if it's dark here, cause it's your room." Sasuke mumbled quietly. "There's nothing scary here."_

 _Itachi paused, his lips pressed into a thin line._

 _Sasuke didn't know. Young, innocent Sasuke had no idea of the looks his enemies gave him whenever they saw him – the look of utter terror whenever they saw Itachi approaching. His trusting little brother did not know of the horror that would be forever etched on his victim's faces as Itachi plunged his sword into their chests._

 _"Nii-san?"_

 _Itachi blinked, realising that he had been motionless for a while. He pressed the sharp tip of the kunai against the wall again._

 _"Do you think I'm scary Sasuke?"_

 _Sasuke tilted his head up to look at his brother. "Huh? Of course not."_

 _Itachi couldn't stop the small smile spreading across his cheeks. "You're not scared of me at all? I can be intimidating can't I?"_

 _Sasuke frowned. "I guess so, when you're moody and when you sometimes come back with blood all over your uniform."_

 _The older boy flinched a bit._

 _"But it's not like I'm scared of you or anything." Sasuke said, reaching to take the kunai out of his brother's hands to add his own detail to the picture._

 _Itachi lowered his arm towards his side, eyes focused on Sasuke's small back._

 _"Howcome?"_

 _Sasuke turned around to look at him weirdly before returning to his drawing._

 _"People are only scared of things that will hurt them, Nii-san."_

 _As Sasuke scratched away at the wall, Itachi remained silent and still, unable to bring himself to move or say anything in fear of losing control of his composure as different emotions twisted inside his stomach._

 _Moments went by when finally Sasuke leaned back against Itachi's chest and smiled happily, "All done!"_

 _Itachi wrapped his arms around Sasuke's small form and studied the picture on the wall. All four figures were smiling, their stick like hands connected with each other as they stood side by side._

 _Sasuke gave a huge yawn and snuggled deeper into Itachi's embrace, eyes fluttering. "Now my wish will come true." He mumbled sleepily._

 _Itachi gently eased the kunai out of his little brother's small fingers and once again pressed the sharp tip to the wall. He prayed silently, sending his wishes to the heavens with each heavy stroke he made, his heart aching with each flick of his wrist as he realised how simple, how **easy** this wish should be to attain, but yet so difficult to achieve due to who they were. _

_But Itachi would try, for the sake of his little brother. He would let Sasuke believe in hope, in New Year wishes and shooting stars and pinky promises._

 _Itachi had never needed to pray; he was capable and had no need to ask for assistance from some higher being that he couldn't see. Itachi had learnt from an early age to not believe in anyone but himself._

 _But this was Sasuke's wish, and if praying would protect that wish, would allow it to come **true**...then he would do so. _

_For Sasuke, he would give his life._

 _XXX_

 _The next morning, Sasuke jumped out from his brother's bed and scampered towards the closet. He squeezed in between the boxes until he could see the markings on the wall, his fingers reaching out to trace it just to make sure that the night before hadn't all been a dream._

 _When he saw the writings underneath, he dashed out of the closet to attack his still-asleep older brother, a wide grin on his face and his round, charcoal eyes bright with mirth._

* * *

 _Author's Note: This chapter was so difficult to writeeee T^T I really wanted to get the emotions across, especially Itachi's conflicted feelings and pain. I hope you all managed to see the underlying meanings because in the end Sasuke **was** afraid of Itachi because he **did** hurt him. Someone teach me how to write LOL...I also contemplated on having Sasuke NOT see Itachi's writing, but then thought that might be too sad since I **did** intend for this story to be a happy one...anyway please tell me what you guys think! As always I'm appreciating the support and your reviews! :) _


	13. Of Shooting Stars and Summer Nights

Uchiha Itachi gave a small sigh and leant back against the wooden frame. The wind chimes above him tinkled lazily against the summer breeze and he angled his head so that his hair wouldn't fall into his eyes. The sun was slowly sinking behind the hills; the last of its golden rays brushing against the early evening sky as shy stars slowly began peeking out one by one.

He had no idea what he did to deserve this chance to see the world again; to be able to experience the peace after the war, to exist without any pain in his chest or darkness in his eyes, and most importantly, to be able to be back in this house, together with his little brother and his family.

If the only price he had to pay was for Sasuke to never see or notice him, he would bear it. He had been through worse.

A smile graced his lips.

Plus, having Sarada as a companion was more than enough.

It was at that moment when he felt a tug at his sleeve.

He looked down and realised that the just turned three year old Uchiha had managed to sneak up on him, her wide eyes curious as she grasped onto the fabric of his shirt. His eyes twinkled.

 _ **Good evening Sarada.**_

She cocked her head to the side. "What you doin'?"

Itachi smiled at her.

 _ **Nothing, just thinking.**_

He looked up at the twinkling stars on the slowly darkening sky.

 _ **Stargazing.**_

Sarada watched him before tracing his glance towards the sky. She scooted closer to him and raised her arms up in the air, looking at him expectantly.

 _ **Would you like me to carry you?**_

The dark haired girl shook her head quickly, "No, no, no! I carry!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

 _ **I beg your pardon?**_

The little girl frowned and raised her arms higher. "I carry you!"

Itachi blinked.

Sarada began rocking on her feet impatiently, "I carry you, to look at the stars, like Papa does!"

Itachi's mouth opened a fraction, lost for words.

Sarada gave an annoyed huff and reached out to grab him around the waist, causing Itachi to jump.

 _ **?!**_

The child began pulling and tugging with all her might, trying to pull Itachi upwards but only managing to lift up his shirt instead.

The quiet man twitched, finally understanding the girl's intentions before slowly rising to his knees, pretending to succumb to the younger Uchiha's baby strength.

Sarada reached for his arm and pulled, her tongue stuck out in determination. Itachi allowed his weight to shift towards her before slowly standing up, his hand still in hers.

She gave a little grin of success before it turned slowly into a confused frown as she lifted her head to look up his tall figure.

"Carry…?"

Itachi covered his mouth quickly so she wouldn't see the amused smile on his face.

 _ **It's okay Sarada. You can carry me another time.**_

He bent to pick up the child into his arms and shifted her against his hip. There was a funny feeling in his stomach, something that he had seldom felt when he had been alive. He pressed one of her tiny hands to his lips and smiled.

 _ **Thank you.**_

Sarada only cocked her head sideways, unaware of the warmth she had planted into his heart. She turned to look up at the night sky and pointed with her other hand towards the stars.

"Stars!"

 _ **Yes.**_

Itachi turned too and pointed.

 _ **Watch closely, there will be shooting stars tonight.**_

"Shooting stars?" Sarada asked wonderingly as she gazed up at the vast sky. She pressed her hands against his head to push herself upwards, wanting to be closer to the sky.

Itachi didn't seem to mind.

 _ **Yes, they shoot across the sky and you make a wish before it disappears.**_

Sarada looked at him curiously, "What's a wish?"

Itachi hummed as he thought up an explanation.

 _ **Something that you really want to happen, something that you want to come true. For example…**_

He pressed his forehead against hers and smiled.

 _ **I wish for you to always be happy, and to always be safe. I wish to always be able to protect you, and your Papa and Mama and all the people that you love.**_

Strange, Itachi thought to himself, he had never believed in wishes.

Sarada blinked her eyes. "Always?"

Itachi nodded.

 _ **Forever.**_

The child looked up towards the sky again and squinted, staring hard and long. The stars blinked back at her teasingly, shining, mesmerising…

Sarada gasped.

"Shooting stars!"

And so they were, tiny, magical specks that dashed across the dark night sky, disappearing in a heartbeat and leaving a glowing trail before fading away completely.

Sarada wailed, "I haven't made wish yet!"

Itachi chuckled.

 _ **You have to be quick, Sarada.**_

Sarada gave a huff and puffed out her cheeks as she determinedly kept her eyes fixed upon the shimmering dots.

A star fell, and this time, she was ready.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Just so you guys know, this literally happened to me. LOL. Not the shooting stars and not Itachi (oh how I wish), but this 2 year old I taught actually came up to me and told me he'd 'carry me to go see the airplanes'. I was dying from cuteness._

 _Anyway, I have so many ways for this story to end, but at the same time I don't want it to end LOL so I'm procrastinating with the plot...I'm sorry T^T I wonder if you guys have realised that I've finally used Itachi's name instead of only referring to him as 'her companion' or 'her friend', because, well, from the previous chapter we all know that the secret is out *gasp* *dramatic music*...so Sarada finally knows who her friend is! Yay! Stay turned for next chapter and please RR! :D_


	14. Of Nightmares and Red

Sarada willed her body to move faster as she stumbled down the dark, empty street. The full moon looming above her seemed to tower disturbingly closer every time she turned a corner. Her heart was hammering against her ribs as if trying to break out from within and the pounding in her ears was so deafening she was sure she wouldn't even hear herself if she screamed. But the panic that continued to rise in her chest forced her to keep running, run, run, run past the houses and shops that she was so familiar with yet seemed so alien now, illuminated an eerie gray by the moon up above her head. She couldn't stop, could not afford to slow down because if she did, he would catch up to her, would surely engulf her in the dark shadow that manifested around him and blind her, and amongst the darkness unsheathe his sword and plunge –

Her heart lurched dangerously in her stomach as her eyes caught sight of the figure perched atop a wooden pole, clad in black and ponytail swaying. The giant yellow moon gleamed menacingly behind him and she realised that his eyes were glowing a crimson red. She tried desperately to stop her legs from moving but found out that she suddenly had no control over her limbs – her body seemed to be floating towards him like a magnet and no matter how hard she thrashed and kicked inside her mind her legs would only stride closer, closer, closer until she could make out the splotches of dark liquid on his face.

Blood, blood, blood.

His eyes bore into hers and she opened her mouth to scream as the black tomoes began to swirl faster and faster –

 _ **Sarada. Wake up.**_

Sarada awoke with a gasp. Her whole body heaved as she took in deep gulps of air as if she had been swimming underwater for a long time and her lungs were fighting to get air inside. Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried desperately to focus on her surroundings, and she gradually became conscious of her body twisted at uncomfortable angles on the bed as if she had been thrashing. Yet the terror that was building in her dream was still there, still escalating, still making her heart pound painfully against her heaving chest and –

 _ **Sarada.**_

She whipped her head to the side and saw him, his towering figure and his long hair swishing even with the lack of wind, and his eyes red and bleeding. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of icy cold water on her as her whole body froze and the blood drained out of her face.

Sarada let out a bloodcurdling scream.

 _ **Sarada!**_

Her eyes snapped open and her whole body jerked violently as she bolted upright in bed. The scream was still tearing through her lips.

 _ **Sarada, look at me.**_

The ringing in her ears and her own screaming was making it difficult to hear, but Sarada realised later that she had never really heard him through her ears.

 _ **It's just a dream, breathe. It's okay. Everything is okay.**_

There was a warm hand on her shoulder and it was projecting warmth around and _through_ her, seeping through her skin all the way to the pits of her stomach and everything began to feel numb and fuzzy as her scream died slowly in her throat. Suddenly, it became much easier to breathe and as her pulse slowed gradually back down to a normal pace, she was finally able to focus on the face in front of her, of his fingers caressing her hair and brushing away the tears on her cheek.

His face was calm but she could see the concern in his eyes – deep, dark orbs without a trace of red. He offered her a small smile as she stared dazedly back at him.

 _ **Are you okay?**_

Sarada continued to stare at him as she thought about the question, then slowly nodded. Okay? Of course she was, she was always okay when he was around. She felt strangely calm and detached now, as if her body hadn't quite caught up with her mind yet - as if she was still dreaming. She knew that she wasn't, though. She knew that she had woken up from a nightmare and she knew that she had been screaming. But even as she tried to remember the contents of the dream, it was already beginning to fade; the colours losing their vividness and the sounds muffled and dimming, as if she was watching a low quality black and white film.

She lowered her eyes towards her hands that were now resting on her lap and she twiddled her fingers lightly, almost unsure whether they were her own. His hand was still patting her hair and she let him; it was reassuring, they were soft and gentle, warm and soothing and wouldn't ever hurt her.

He ruffled her hair a bit.

 _ **Think you can go back to sleep?**_

She nodded slowly again, she was suddenly very tired and her eyelids were extremely heavy. Why was she even awake?

 _ **Sleep, I'll be here.**_

She felt him lower her head gently back onto the pillow and she wondered if she had already began dreaming again, because she vaguely saw a glint of red before her eyelids slipped shut.

XXX

Sarada awoke the next morning to a stream of sunlight breaking through the half opened curtains. She lay unmoving for a while, her brain still groggy and she wondered why she felt so tired. She blinked a few times before she realised thankfully that she did not have class today. She moved her arm up experimentally, trying to catch the sunlight in her palm and watched as the warm rays slipped right past the cracks between her fingers, casting a shadow onto her blankets. She wiggled her fingers and watched as the shadow moved in sync.

Sarada let her hand drop back onto her side with a sigh and was surprised to feel something hard underneath the blankets. She pulled the material to the side to reveal the object, and her memory came back to her in a rush.

Lying next to her was an old history book that she had found amongst the boxes that she was going through just the day before while cleaning the house. She felt her breath hitch as she stared at it, her mind racing. Hesitantly she reached out to touch the cover, then gripped the pages to flip the book open to the page where she had bookmarked before falling asleep. A chill ran down her spine as she her eyes fell on the title.

 _The Uchiha Massacre._

* * *

 _Author's note: Belated Happy New Year to you all! Wishing everyone an amazing year ahead filled with joy and laughter! :) I'm sorry about starting the year off with a dark chapter haha but I've been reading a few horror fics lately and I guess I wanted to get the plot moving (finally). I've been running out of fluff ideas nuuuu T^T probably need to get back into reading about them! Oh but do let me know if you guys have any ideas that you want me to write about and I'll see what I can do! :D Also I really want to THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for helping me reach 100 reviews, I know it's not much of a goal but it really means a lot to me! Thank you for all your support!_


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